Elisha Karmitz has filled the position of General Manager for mk2 Group since 2014, which he co-manages with his brother Nathanaël Karmitz.
Elisha Karmitz joined mk2 in 2006, as Director of Publications and Editing for the free newspaper TROISCOULEURS. A trail-blazing and involved film-loving media, TROISCOULEURS is dedicated to creative and innovative films and artists.
In 2008, Elisha Karmitz took the head of mk2 Multimedia and developed the communications and diversification operations for mk2 Group. In 2012, mk2 Multimedia became mk2 Agency, an agency specialised in audiovisual communications, content creation and events. This new structure puts mk2’s expertise at the service of brands, and connects them with cinema, culture and fashion talents. Elisha Karmitz has produced the following with mk2 Agency among others: Catherine Deneuve Rive Gauche, directed by Loïc Prigent, and Unpredictable Creativity, directed by Kim Chapiron for Nike.
In 2016, Elisha Karmitz created mk2 VR, the first permanent location dedicated to virtual reality in Europe. With the development of the mk2 VR Pods – VR solutions for professionals, along with the management and distribution of a content catalogue, mk2 became a key player in immersive technologies. In 2019, in order to adapt to these new challenges, mk2 Agency became MK2+, a consultancy agency and creative studio for emotional experiences and campaigns. Among the agency’s achievements: PSG Expérience, a fun and immersive visit of the Parc des Princes and OCEANS, a virtual odyssey through an interactive aquarium.
Elisha Karmitz also co-produced the documentary Piratage, by Etienne Rouillon and Sylvain Bergère (2011), and feature films such as: Mountains May Depart by Jia Zhang-Ke (2015), part of the official selection in competition at the Festival de Cannes and awarded the prize for best screenplay at the Asian Film Awards, It’s Only the End of the World by Xavier Dolan (2016), which won the Grand Prix at the Festival de Cannes and the Caesar for best director in 2017, Ash Is The Purest White by Jia Zhang-Ke (2017), part of the official selection in competition at the Festival de Cannes, Cold War by Pawel Pawlikowski (2018), awarded the best director award at the Festival de Cannes and best film at the European Film Awards, Matthias & Maxime by Xavier Dolan (2019), part of the official selection in competition at the Festival de Cannes.
As a response to the lockdown measures of April 2020, Elisha Karmitz and the MK2 teams launched mk2 Curiosity, an on-demand video platform selected without an algorithm by the mk2 programmers and cinema-loving teams. Elisha Karmitz also created mk2 Institut, a space for expression, dialogue and exchanges which gives a voice to artists, authors and researchers, including Erri de Luca, Esther Duflo and François Surreau. They each encourage debate to discuss the world of today and tomorrow. Created at the beginning of the 2010 decade by Elisha and Nathanaël Karmitz, the Paradiso brand aims to offer new life experiences around cinema. In 2011, Elisha Karmitz launched the largest 3D projection in the world, with the projection of the animated film Rio under the nave of the Grand Palais in Paris, a performance which entered the Guinness Book of World Records.
Paradiso became the creative laboratory for many new cinema uses and reinvested the before and after screening with the Cinéma Paradiso events in 2013 and 2015, held under the nave of the Grand Palais, and in 2019 and 2021 in the square courtyard of the Louvre museum. Following on from this, Elisha and Nathanaël Karmitz opened the Hotel Paradiso in 2021, the first cinema-hotel with a unique concept in the world. The Hotel Paradiso is shaking up the codes of the hotel and cinema industries while reflecting the mk2 values: selection, sharing, discovery and accessibility.
Photo copyright: Gilles Bassignac/Divergence for JDD (2015)